Thousands of students and teachers marched on the streets of Santiago and in other cities on Tuesday August 28, 2012, to demand education reform. This massive march is part of the student movement's ongoing efforts to overhaul the education system in Chile. Earlier this month, students occupying schools denounced [es] excessive aggression by police as they were forcibly removed from school premises.

The Santiago Times reports that yesterday's march “was notably peaceful and good-natured until it officially ended at 2 p.m. and quickly descended into chaos with ‘encapuchados’, or hooded vandals, attacking police […] The police were quick to respond by firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters.”

As in previous protests, citizens were actively covering the march throughout the day via social networks. Most users used the hashtags #YoMarchoel28 (I march on the 28) [es] and #YoApoyoaLosEstudiantes (I support the students) [es] to share pictures, videos, reports, and reactions.

Chilean student leaders pictured on stage as they deliver speeches at a rally demanding an overhaul of the public education system. August 28, 2012. Photo by Mario Tellez Tellez, Copyright Demotix.

@mmlagoscc: The government congratulating the peaceful student march is very strange: OK, now what? What does the government say to the demands that started the march?

Despite the peaceful nature of this march, citizens [es] and the media [es] reported several clashes between protesters and police. According to reports by carabineros, 200 people were arrested and 13 police were injured.

Riot police pictured as they make an arrest at a rally demanding an overhaul of the public education system. August 28, 2012, Santiago, Chile. Photo by Mario Tellez Tellez, copyright Demotix.

Several netizens, like SebastiánCaiceoBacon (@sebastiancaiceo) [es], criticized the media's coverage of the march:

@sebastiancaiceo: The press is incredible, when the march is peaceful they dedicate their first 5 minutes of air time to it and that's it, when there are riots they show them for 1 hour.

Supporters of the student movement stress that the government must respond to the student's demands. The Dean of the School of Medicine of the University of Chile, Cecilia Sepúlveda (@decanamedicina) [es] tweeted:

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[…] more about yesterday’s march in my latest article for Global Voices Online: Chile: Students March in the Thousands for Education Reform Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like […]

[…] Thousands of students and teachers marched on the streets of Santiago and in other cities on Tuesday August 28, 2012, to demand education reform. This massive march is part of the student movement’s ongoing efforts to overhaul the education system in Chile. Earlier this month, students occupying schools denounced [es] excessive aggression by police as they were forcibly removed from school premises. Source: Global Voices […]